Thank you, Jim, for your welcome and for having set up the ?mail list for the surname McGregor.? I do not expect to find anyone who connects to me via this list.? But I am going to accept your invitation to tell the story of my own McGregor family.? It is as romantic as the surname itself.? My McGregor family would be found in California.

Robert McGregor was the captain of a boat (according to family lore he was captain….I have never found a Captain of a boat who fits his description) that carried Irish potato famine victims from Ireland to New York.? During one voyage he fell in love with a young Irish woman named Mary Ann Hair.? They were married in New York.? Their first child was born in New York.? This child was born c.1754.? I don’t remember where I came up with this date.? I have not put a source to the date.

Sometime after the birth of Robert, James took work on a ship going to California.? And after he was settled, Mary Ann and baby Robert sailed from NY to the isthmus of Panama where they rode a mule from the shore on the Atlantic to the Pacific.? They then took another ship from there to San Francisco. I think that I have been told that one could take a boat from San Fran to Sacramento at that time….and that Robert met them in Sacramento. ?

The couple raised their family in Cherokee, CA.? It is now a rather well preserved spot in the California mountains.? I was lucky enough to have visited more than 12 years ago.? Robert’s tomb stone still can be read in the cemetery there.? His stone says that he was born c. 1816 in Edinburg, Scotland.? The family consisted of two other male children besides my grandmother’s grandfather, James.? James had three brothers: ?William, Robert, and George. ? I have no information of any sort about brother Robert….except that he is listed as miner in a census.? William was a miner and George very little about George either

As I look through my files this morning, I see that in the census of 1900 Mary is listed as the head of the household at the age of 68,? Annie (42). George (39), Kate (29) and William (32) are listed as living in the household--

In the Butte County 1890 Census:

William Newton McGregor ? 21 ? B. Ca ? Miner

The three sisters were teachers as was James for a while.? One of the sisters was married to a James Riley.? However, Tim Purdy found a divorce record for this couple in 1910.? But there could be descendants from this couple.? The surnames with a connection would be Riley, Hitt, and Mathans, Buchell, Santiago. ?

I have done DNA testing at all five of the large companies.? My results are identified by some combination of Marsha Ann Hawkins Moses on all five sites.? I would love to hear from anyone who might be a McGregor match to me!? I have recently sent a message to a match on Ancestry to a person who is an X match to me but is on my father’s side.? That almost has to be either a McGregor or McKinsey match.? But unfortunately Ancestry does not provide e-mail addresses and it might take years to hear back from that person.? Best of luck to everyone with research.? I am happy to share anything that I might know. ?marsha

Thanks Ros.? It is hard to believe that I have researched the Potato famine so little…..But I use that idea when what the family folklore actually says is that both of Mary Ann Hair’s parents had died of Cholera and she and an aunt came to New York while her brother received the family plot.? I guess in my mind the potato famine was mid century…..with no more exact dates.? I will do some more looking at the entire story.? I absolutely love to be corrected or have small details that may not have been accurate pointed out to me.? That is how I Learn.? Thank you so much!

But you are right 1854 might be correct.? I looked at my data base and I actually have written Robert’s birth date as c.1854….probably an estimate from a census. ?

On Feb 1, 2020, at 2:19 PM, Roslyn Macgregor <roslyn.macgregor@...> wrote:

Perhaps your ancestor came across in 1854? That would fit better with the potato famine, I think And if he was born in 1816 ...

Amazing story!!! Thanks!

Ros Macgregor

On Sat, 1 Feb 2020 at 11:43, marsha moses <mosesm@...> wrote:

Thank you, Jim, for your welcome and for having set up the ?mail list for the surname McGregor.? I do not expect to find anyone who connects to me via this list.? But I am going to accept your invitation to tell the story of my own McGregor family.? It is as romantic as the surname itself.? My McGregor family would be found in California.

Robert McGregor was the captain of a boat (according to family lore he was captain….I have never found a Captain of a boat who fits his description) that carried Irish potato famine victims from Ireland to New York.? During one voyage he fell in love with a young Irish woman named Mary Ann Hair.? They were married in New York.? Their first child was born in New York.? This child was born c.1754.? I don’t remember where I came up with this date.? I have not put a source to the date.

Sometime after the birth of Robert, James took work on a ship going to California.? And after he was settled, Mary Ann and baby Robert sailed from NY to the isthmus of Panama where they rode a mule from the shore on the Atlantic to the Pacific.? They then took another ship from there to San Francisco. I think that I have been told that one could take a boat from San Fran to Sacramento at that time….and that Robert met them in Sacramento. ?

The couple raised their family in Cherokee, CA.? It is now a rather well preserved spot in the California mountains.? I was lucky enough to have visited more than 12 years ago.? Robert’s tomb stone still can be read in the cemetery there.? His stone says that he was born c. 1816 in Edinburg, Scotland.? The family consisted of two other male children besides my grandmother’s grandfather, James.? James had three brothers: ?William, Robert, and George. ? I have no information of any sort about brother Robert….except that he is listed as miner in a census.? William was a miner and George very little about George either

As I look through my files this morning, I see that in the census of 1900 Mary is listed as the head of the household at the age of 68,? Annie (42). George (39), Kate (29) and William (32) are listed as living in the household--

In the Butte County 1890 Census:

William Newton McGregor ? 21 ? B. Ca ? Miner

The three sisters were teachers as was James for a while.? One of the sisters was married to a James Riley.? However, Tim Purdy found a divorce record for this couple in 1910.? But there could be descendants from this couple.? The surnames with a connection would be Riley, Hitt, and Mathans, Buchell, Santiago. ?

I have done DNA testing at all five of the large companies.? My results are identified by some combination of Marsha Ann Hawkins Moses on all five sites.? I would love to hear from anyone who might be a McGregor match to me!? I have recently sent a message to a match on Ancestry to a person who is an X match to me but is on my father’s side.? That almost has to be either a McGregor or McKinsey match.? But unfortunately Ancestry does not provide e-mail addresses and it might take years to hear back from that person.? Best of luck to everyone with research.? I am happy to share anything that I might know. ?marsha

--

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

- Martin Luther King Jr.